Delightful read

I haven't had anything to share in several days and have spent some time "Poking" around in other people's blogs. I found the following yesterday. I had a very nice time reading the 100 things about this lady. She lives (as you might see by reading the comments on my blog if you are interested) not too far from where I was born. Take time to read it. Diane is a delightful lady. Connie

http://100thingsaboutdiane.blogspot.com/

ME AND MY DESERT

This is a picture that was taken of me by my grand daughter (I think it was her) enjoying the weather.


I was going to put a picture on here this a.m. of a wool sweater that I just finished but I can't find the picture. I thought sure I had taken a picture of it but it simply can't be found. I plan on sending it to Kala. When would I ever wear a wool sweater here in my desert? I will take a picture of it later along with the SOU'WESTER hat I made to go with it. If I have enough yarn left I plan on making mittens also.

A QUILT MAKERS NIGHTMARE

Below is a picture of the quilt of the title of this post. I have completed 3 quilts and there is one in progress. I AM NOT a quilt maker. All that precision is not yet something that I am interested in pursuing. Maybe someday but please, don't anyone hold your breath. I too much enjoy just slamming something together. The quilt pieces below came in a great big zippered bag that you would buy blankets in. I bought it stuffed full of fabric pieces at a thrift store. Imagine my surprise and excitement when I found many finished quilt blocks. I believe the quilt below was to have been two seperate quilts. I had fun making a "summer quilt" from those blocks. After I sewed all the blocks together ON MY SEWING MACHINE! I backed it with some white linen from my stash. After completing the quilt I set my machine to say "Grammy Loves Lily" completely around the whole border of the quilt and it will go to my little China Doll grand daughter this summer when I head for Tennessee. If you are a quilt maker, please do not even dare to click on the picture to perhaps examine the quilt closer. NIGHTMARE CITY for you.

What ever

Nothing particular comes to mind to post this a.m. I had thought of taking pictures of all the yarn I "scored" at the yard sales and thrift stores while in Ventura but I already have it put away. It was a great trip for yarn. There is not a whole lot of yarn available here in my desert. Not much call for it. Even two yarn stores I have visited in the past five years I have lived here (for the second time) have closed. Can you blame them? I can seldom wear the things I make because even in the winter by the time I get to where I am going I shed my sweater. When Becky and I yard sale together we part company immediately. She heads for the books and I head for whatever crafty things I can see in the hope of getting my hands on yarn. I end up with a double deal. Becky has a "library" in her house. I probably would never need to buy a single book.

I found a skein of ribbon yarn, (I have not ever worked with ribbon yarn in the past) and Sunday a.m. before Sunday school I picked it up and crocheted a hat for whoever likes it in Tennessee. It was fun to work with and very quick. I have a drawer half filled with a beautiful pale coral ribbon yarn that I have not yet decided on a pattern for. Now I am anxious to finish the sweater I am knitting and start on the ribbon yarn jacket. I am thinking it would look good as a jacket. The only problem is...I don't attend functions anymore that would require fancy dressup clothes. I used to attend the symphony and stage plays but now I would rather stay home. Yarn and old age is catching up with me. When the sun comes up and goes down so do I.

I will post a picture of the sweater I am almost finished with.

Until then, GOODNIGHT MRS. CALABASH. (Wasn't that Jimmy Darante, Derente, Darente) Durn, wish I could spell.

Face Book

My baby daughter who lives in Tennessee set me up on Face Book. I may not spend much time there because I am finding it simply eats up much too much of my time that I could be spent with yarn in my hands but...today, I took a peek at my oldest grand childs Face Book page and she had posted a whole bunch of pictures of me that she took in Down Town Tucson for an art project that she undertook while she was living with me for a couple of years, attending college here. I will put those pictures on this blog, in no particular order. She has an artist and a photographers eye. She even made this Ol' Grammy look pretty acceptable.

1 VACATION DOWN, TWO TO GO

Middle Child and I took a week and went to the beach. In my desert you say? Nope, Ventura, CA. I was raised in San Jose, CA and didn't even realize that Ventura was on the coast. Middle Child's sweet hubby told her to go with her mom, have a great time and he would be totally responsible for the two children. He is a principle of a grammer school and still had a weeks work to do before he too was released for the summer, so the kids went to school each day with him and helped him do what-ever he had to do. I do believe all three were very glad to see their mom arrive home. The kids are 13 & 14 y/o. It sure would have been fun if Baby Daugher could have been there also, but I don't believe that Tennessee family could have survived w/out her.


I TOOK THIS PICTURE TO TORMENT MY SERFER BABY BROTHER.

WE ARE TOLD WE BOTH LOOK ALIKE AND SOUND ALIKE.

BEFORE THE WIND COMPLETELY DISTROYED THE COIF

A WHOLE LOT OF MONEY FLOATS BEHIND MY DAUGHTER

BECKY'S FAVORITE THING TO DO

A LITTLE TO THE RIGHT FROM OUR WINDOW




THIS IS A VIEW FROM OUR SECOND STORY WINDOW

OK, here's the deal. I am getting more and more acquainted with this blog thing. I am finally able to label the picture a little more successfully but I am still not able to get the first pictures first and the last pictures last. They are up in reverse. While showing you a bunch of pictures of THE VISIT I couldn't help but throw in a couple of other grandkids pictures. So sue me! I am a very proud grammy. Don't forget to click on the picture to make it bigger so as to see better.
Kala's LITTLE brother is over at the right
Cool Kala
Zeke and mama
Aunt Becky watching The Zekester
His eyes are brown, brown, brown
No explaination needed on this one
Dinner time
More time at the table enjoying fish tacos
Fun time for Zeke & cousin Michael
Zeke's mama with a mouthfull of breakfast
Zeke's daddy with a mouthfull of breakfast working on his laptop
Zeke being mesmerized by a Veggie Tales video. The little mountain man doesn't have TV reception at home. Sometimes the "electronic baby sitter" is a very handy thing.
My house from across the road at Holly's Little Farm.

Zeke is very tentative about getting acquainted with the tiny donkey.

Company (loved ones)

It is always great to have even more family here to join MY COMMUNE. I will try to figure out the way to put captions under each picture. I looked up the word "commune" and the discription is: community that shares all ownership and duties. Well, we don't quite go that far but we do share a lot and enjoy the sharing. Last night almost everyone shared the duties of getting supper on the table. I have a way to prepare fish tacos that EVERYONE loves and it appears often on my table. What with lots of help, cooking the fish on the BBQ last night and therefore keeping the greasy mess and heat out of the kitchen, it was on the table in a flash and gone just as soon.

Now, to see if I can get more picture on the blog with captions.

I am a lazy thief!!

I have company still. Very enjoyable company. When I am no longer being lazy I will post a picture... or three of them. Right now, while I am waiting for their little to "make like an alarm clock" and wake them, it is just coffee and peeking at other people's blog and in this case, stealing something from someone. Below is what I have stolen this a.m. with my answers instead of the other blogger's answers.


1) What was I doing 10 years ago?

10 years ago I was living in Iowa with my husband. He had accepted a job there(he was a consultant for them at the time) that he could not turn down. He tried to keep from accepting it and they made such a nice offer that he finally accepted. He knew that the company would not thrive in the place where they were and he planned on moving the company to a more profitable place, which was Scottsdale, AZ where the market was much better for what the company was offering. So, we kept our home in Scottsdale, rented it out (to our son and his wife) and I was able to join him for a year and a half. Company was moved and we came back home.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):
No plan, Nada, Nothing planned. Enjoy my company and feed them when they are hungry.
3) Snacks I enjoy:
Food. I enjoy almost all food. Try NOT to eat the snacks I most enjoy. Try to eat only things that won't distroy me. Fail. Favorite? Coldstone Creamery Coffee ice cream with toasted almonds. So happy that they are a very, very long way from me!

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Get this family of mine together much more often than just one time a year.
5) Places I have lived: Keep in mind, I married an IBM executive.
Thayer, Missouri (starting place)
A place in Oklahoma that I can't remember the name of at the moment
San Jose, California. 28 years
Danbury, Connecticut (twice)
Boulder, Colorado
Davenport, Iowa
Tucson, Arizona
Scottsdale, Arizona
Marana, Arizona
Next stop, HEAVEN



6) Jobs I have had:
Mowing lawns
Baby sitting
Housekeeping and cooking for an elderly couple while I was in Bible College
Telephone compnay: long distance, information, and teletype
Front office of a dentist office
Hot dog stand (while saving the position for my son until summer vacation)
Diet Center
All very short term jobs. Most of my life, I have held the job of mom &
home maker and been so grateful that I was blessed with that privilege


7) Peeps I wanna know more about
Occasionally a notable person comes to mind and I think I should type the
name into google and then I forget.

OK. That is it for today. Perhaps more tomorrow.

Sombody is sleeping in my bed!

My neice, her sweet hubby and two y/o arrived yesterday on their way home to Colorado. Of course, they are in my room since there is only one of me and I can sleep in the twin bed in the guest room. In the next day or so or even a few days away, I will put some pictures on here of them and their visit. Meanwhile, I peeked at a blog written by a lady in England. I think I found her because of her special interest. The name of her blog is "BORN TO READ and knit. Since it is early Sunday and I can't get into the shower in my room to get ready for church I will steal something from her blog. It looks as if you are to answer with ONLY one word. We will see how it comes out.
Not as easy as you might think. Now copy, forward, or post this and change the answers to yours and pass it on. It is sometimes hard to only use one word answers.

1. Where is your cell phone? ………….. dresser

2. Your significant other?………………….. Heaven

3. Your hair? …………………………………….. graying

4. Your mother? ……………………………….. Heaven

5. Your father?…………………………………….. Heaven

6. Your favorite thing?……………………….. family
7. Your dream last night?………………….. ????

8. Your favorite drink? ……………………….. coffee

9. Your dream/goal?………………………….. pliability

10. The room you’re in?…………………….. kitchen

11. Your ex?……………………………………….. non-existant

12. Your fear?…………………………………….. none

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years?…….. here

14. Where were you last night?………….. home

15. What you’re not?………………………….. shy

16. Muffins?……………………………………….. carrot

17. One of your wish list items?………….. children'shealth (so, I cheated)

18. Where you grew up?…………………….. California

19. The last thing you did?………………….. read

20. What are you wearing?………………….. bathrobe

21. Your TV?……………………………………….. Sony

22. Your pets?…………………………………….. cat

23. Your computer? …………………………….. emachine

24. Your life?……………………………………….. happy

25. Your mood?………………………………….. up

26. Missing someone?……………………….. husband

27. Your car?……………………………………….. Nissan

28. Something you’re not wearing?…….. makeup

29. Favorite Store?……………………………….. ??????

30. Your summer?……………………………….. hot

31. Like(love) someone?…………………………….. many

32. Your favorite color?……………………….. coral

33. Last time you laughed?……………….. yesterday

34. Last time you cried?……………………….. ?????????

35. Who will re-post this?…………………….. ???????

Estimated weather report

No way did it even come close to the estimated 76 degrees today.

Something is wrong with my desert!!!!!

I can't even begin to understand what is wrong with my desert but I am not complaining! A bit of reprieve before summer hits. BB says it feels like Feb. I was out almost all day yesterday, which is a big change for me. I usually enjoy staying home but yesterday it was errands. I may go see if there are any garage sales happening today. Maybe. Just look at the weather I copied from the computer. AMAZING! And it is MAY 23Rd!!!!

Currently at 5:52 AM
53 °F RealFeel®:48 °F
Thunderstorm
Humidity: 66% Dew Point: 42 °F
Pressure: N/A Visibility: 10 Miles
Winds: SSW at 8 mphEarly Morning Fri, May 23
Low: 53 °F RealFeel®: 54 °F
Partly cloudy and windy with a shower or thunderstormStargazing conditionsForecast Details | Hourly Forecast for Today | Hourly Forecast for Tonight | AccuPOP® Precipitation Forecast | Local Radar
Friday, May 23
High: 76 °F RealFeel®: 71 °F
Cloudy most of the time, windy and coolFriday Night, May 23
Low: 54 °F RealFeel®: 56 °F
Partly cloudy and cool

This is the day...

"This is the day the Lord has made, rejoice and be glad in it." Straight from the best book on earth. But...what a funny day it is for my desert. It is cold (for us) windy and cloudy. Don't ever, ever, ever try to outguess the Lord. Even if you are a weather person.

Today, of all odd days, is my grand daughters graduation from the 8th grade and the ceremony is to be held outside in the field. I do believe I will take a jacket. Attached it the young lady of honor.

Only this, this morning

If you wish to be happy for an hour, drink;
If you wish to be happy for a day, cook;
If you wish to be happy for a week, sail
If you wish to be happy for a month, love
If you wish to be happy for a year, marry;
If you wish to be happy for a decade, read;
If you wish to be happy forever, pray;
But, if you wish to be happy all the while, garden.
Ian Guillen

New Babies Down on the Farm

These pictures were taken earlier this week. The last I heard there were 5 babies.
Don't forget to click on the pictures if you want to see them a bit closer.

Now I remember...

Now I remember the other thing I was going to tell you about. Just a quick one and then I gotta get out to the garden.

This sweater is my latest completed croched project. If it fits, it will go to my youngest granddaughter, my little (but growing quickly) China Doll.

I think the picture in the chair was this last Christmas's picture and the one of the tall, quickly growing Lily is a picture just taken at school at her balleriana recital.

Ol' Braggart Grammy

I had planned on showing you another picture or two. A few of the new baby ducks and at the moment I can't remember what else (what ever it was is safely on the computer picture area and it will come to mind at a later date) but I was reminded of something else to show you. While my granddaughter Kala was living with me and going to college here, she entered a contest in which she had the opportunity to win $300. She dressed me with clothing of the proper color that she had in her minds eye and we went to down town Tucson. She must have taken over 100 pictures of me posing in front of various buildings, stairs, trees and such then we came home, she stayed up all night and drew with charcoal? the picture I will put on here. She had a huge mirror available and mounted the picture she drew on the mirror and surrounded it with the snap shots of her choice. Sadly, someone else took home the $300.

I Love my hodge podge room

My maternal grandmother LOVED pictures. All of us sent her pictures w/out fail. Weddings, grandchildren's school pictures, any pictures we took, we made sure there were duplicates to send to gramma. When she died, she had a suit box (I haven't seen one of those in many years) full of pictures not counting the ones she had all over her house. Guess she passed on the gene to her children, grands and greats. Seems a lot of us love them also.

The great big all blue painting is of my dad. My nephew painted it. I don't know why I have it but I like the picture and it looks just like him. I have seen him look just like that many times. Not stern, just contemplative. When my mom came to live with me she would not let me hang that picture in her room. For some reason it disterbed her.

In one of the last pictures in the big gold ornate frame is a picture of my great maternal grandfather. To the left is also him when he was about 16 y/o. To the left of that picture is a picture of BB. I believe he looks just like the old grandpa.

Don't forget to click on the picture and it will enlarge it.

My "Family" room

Yesterday I tried to upload these pictures but the site wouldn't let me. Today, they uploaded in a different manner than expected. I KNOW that computers have minds of their own.

My family room is different than most. I call my sewing room my family room. I love going in there (when I can wade through it) because every wall is plastered with family pictures. The two pictures I have on here today are on the wall of an out jutting closet. The closet is not inset into the wall like most. Anyway, on the little wall, just as you go into the room are hanging things that are memory things of the place were I was born. I had hoped the pictures on the wall could be seen but I don't believe you can see them. I was born in my grandmother and grandfathers house in Thayer, MO. in the front bedroom. The pictures were taken for a surprise gift by my sweet and thoughtful baby daughter. All 12 of my family met in Branson, MO a few years ago for a weeks vacation and they drove through Thayer and found the house and took pictures of my grand children on the front porch on their way home. (click on the pictures and perhaps you will be able to enlarge it) The other items in the other picture are my grandmothers apron and bonnet that she wore while in the garden and the hat, purse and one glove (the other is lost) that my grandma wore to my wedding in 1958. The colorful picture of the lady is one that hung in my mom's bedroom when she was a young girl. There are some "quilt" type things peiced by my grandmother and set into embroidery hoops.

Tomorrow (God willin' and the creek don't rise) I will show you the walls that are plastered with pictures.